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Sunday, 25 October 2015

Malvani Fish Curry !

Malvani cuisine is the cuisine of the Konkan region of Maharashtra and Goa, and some northern parts of West Karnataka. Malvan is a town in the Sindhudurg district on the west coast of Maharashtra.

Malvan being a coastal area in Konkan, it has its own distinct way of cooking food. Malvani cuisine uses coconut liberally in various forms such as grated, dry grated, fried, coconut paste and coconut milk.Many masalas have dried red chilies and other spices like coriander seeds, peppercorns, cumin, cardamom, ginger, garlic, etc. Some dishes also use kokum, dried kokam (amsul), tamarind, and raw mango (kairi).(Courtesy : Wikipage)

I got introduced to this cuisine through my Marati friend and I should thank her for that. The curry is really delicious and different from my usual Meen Kuzhambu (Fish Curry) of Tamil nadu.

Malvani cuisine is a little similar to Goan cuisine in terms of most of the ingredients used. But wait and watch for the Goan Fish curry recipe too that I tasted very recently at my Goan friend's place.

INGREDIENTS

400 gms fish pieces (I used Sea Bass)

2 tbsp Oil

1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds

1/2 cup Coconut Milk

salt as needed

4 - 5 Kokum Petals (or 1 tsp tamarind paste / extract)

To Grind to Fine Paste

1 Onion

1/2 cup fresh Grated Coconut

10 Dry Red Chillis (Mix of normal + Byadgi chilli (for color))

1 tbsp Coriander Seeds

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

1/2 tsp Black Pepper corns

1 inch piece Ginger

4 - 5 Garlic Cloves

STEPS

Soak the coriander seeds, cumin, red chillis and pepper in water for 15 - 20 minutes.

Then grind them adding some water with fresh grated coconut, onion, ginger n garlic to a very very fine paste.

Wash the fish well 3 to 4 times with salt and turmeric and keep ready.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel, and add a tsp of Cumin seeds. Once they turn brown add the ground paste.

I added 1 tbsp of Kashmiri Red chilli Powder for the color as I didnt have byadgi chillis that is generally used in the curry paste.